• Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much

  • 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
  • 2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?
  • 3 “Should he argue with useless talk, Or with words which do not benefit?
  • 4 “Indeed, you do away with reverence, And hinder meditation before God.
  • 5 “For your wrongdoing teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the cunning.
  • 6 “Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips testify against you.
  • 7 “Were you the first person to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?
  • 8 “Do you hear the secret discussion of God, And limit wisdom to yourself?
  • 9 “What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not?
  • 10 “Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Older than your father.
  • 11 “Are the consolations of God too little for you, Or the word spoken gently to you?
  • 12 “Why does your heart take you away? And why do your eyes wink,
  • 13 That you can turn your spirit against God And produce such words from your mouth?
  • 14 “What is man, that he would be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
  • 15 “Behold, He has no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
  • 16 How much less one who is detestable and corrupt: A person who drinks malice like water!

  • What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life

  • 17 “I will tell you, listen to me; And what I have seen I will also declare;
  • 18 What wise people have told, And have not concealed from their fathers,
  • 19 To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them.
  • 20 “The wicked person writhes in pain all his days, And the years reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
  • 21 “Sounds of terror are in his ears; While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
  • 22 “He does not believe that he will return from darkness, And he is destined for the sword.
  • 23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is at hand.
  • 24 “Distress and anguish terrify him, They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
  • 25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God, And is arrogant toward the Almighty.
  • 26 “He rushes headlong at Him With his massive shield.
  • 27 “For he has covered his face with his fat, And put fat on his waist.
  • 28 “He has lived in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.
  • 29 “He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure; And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
  • 30 “He will not escape from darkness; The flame will dry up his shoot, And he will go away by the breath of His mouth.
  • 31 “Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For his reward will be emptiness.
  • 32 “It will be accomplished before his time, And his palm branch will not be green.
  • 33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine, And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
  • 34 “For the company of the godless is barren, And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.
  • 35 “They conceive harm and give birth to wrongdoing, And their mind prepares deception.”